The present invention relates to methods for protecting a peripheral device in a computing system from damage due to surge currents.
In addition to other capabilities, personal computers provide users with storage memory for digital content. The amount of media created by a user is increasing due to the pervasive use of portable devices (e.g. digital cameras). Since the media is typically copied to the computer and then erased from the portable device, the personal computer becomes a single storage device for content that has no backup in any other location.
Backup of stored content on personal computers can be a critical concern to business and personal users. Stationary backup devices (e.g. external hard-disk drives and remote backup services) are not available when the user is traveling or working off-line. The use of a different location on a hard-disk drive, or a second hard-disk drive on the same computer for backup is not always possible. Furthermore, the hard disk itself has some probability of crashing, either due to extended use or due to extended power cycling. There is a need for built-in, reliable, automatic backup methods that provide the user with confidence that important information on the user's hard disk has a backup.
Additional peripheral devices, connected to a computer, that are not frequently used (e.g. a business-card scanner, a desktop scanner, a photograph printer) are also continuously exposed to the risk of surge currents, and could benefit from a solution that protects the devices from surge damage without physically detaching the devices from the computer.
It would be desirable to have methods for protecting a peripheral device in a computing system from damage due to surge currents.